


Ravagers in Guardians Clothing or the Other Way Around?

by celticheart72



Series: Lives of Ravagers Who Became Guardians [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-06-09 14:32:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 18,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15269538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticheart72/pseuds/celticheart72
Summary: What happens when you put a rag tag bunch of a holes together? They steal shit and save galaxies.I do not own any of GOTG only my own original characters and ideas.ON TEMPORARY HIATUS





	1. I'm Threatening

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2...Continuation from How Yondu Became a Dad and Husband...
> 
> Still working on those nanos. 
> 
> I'm playing with shorter more dialogue heavy chapters. Let me know what you think.

Peter started yelling like a maniac and rushed Fiona who just shook her head and sidestepped him.

“I’m sorry Peter, I just can’t take you seriously as a threat,” she told him while she tried her best to keep a straight face.

He was leaning forward at the waist with his hands on his knees breathing heavily. They’d been at it for an hour with Peter ‘attacking’ Fiona to try to trigger her protective nanos to activate somehow. They still hadn’t figured out how to generate the energy fields she’d conjured twice before. She hadn’t had any more visions, and the telekinesis Rocket said her red nanos were also supposed to stimulate hadn’t surfaced yet either.

“How can you not take me seriously? I’m threatening,” Peter stood up and looked around at everyone in the rec room they were using as a training room. “Oh come on!”

“You can be very threatening to a being that doesn’t know you,” Gamora offered from behind him where she was leaning back against the wall.

“Not helping, but thanks a lot,” he groused.

“Perhaps if someone more menacing were to try?” Drax asked from the doorway.

Fiona raised an eyebrow at him, “Well Drax if you can find someone more menacing we can try it.”

“I am Drax the Destroyer the most feared man in all the Galaxies!” Drax roared and drew his knives from his boots and raised them over his head.

“Come on Princess,” Fiona grinned at him.

“I am not a Princess!” He yelled and ran at her, much like Peter had.

She darted out of the way twice before Peter finally put a stop to the nonsense. “It’s not helping dude.”

Rocket was looking at the holopad on his lap which showed her nanos and their current readings. Mainframe sat on the crate next to him.

Aleta was also in the room, watching the entire thing with a frown. “Fiona, the nanos effectively heal you, correct?” She asked.

“Yes, why?” Fiona asked, and as she was in the middle of turning to face Aleta she was met with a raised blaster which fired amongst shouts from everyone else in the room.

Fiona quickly raised her hand and a yellow energy field absorbed the blaster fire and dissipated it.

“Well that was…interesting,” Rocket said as he looked between the two women, neither of whom looked at all perturbed.

“What the hell! Something happens to her while we’re in here doing this and Yondu is going to have MY ass!” Peter yelled at them as he stood back up from where he’d pulled Gamora down behind him.

Aleta made a dismissive gesture with her hand and looked at Rocket, “Did that elicit any new information?”

He was still staring at them, open-mouthed, and shook his head as he looked back to the holopad. “Yeah actually.” Pointing he moved the pad so Mainframe could see it, “Can you access and analyze that data?”

Mainframe’s lights flashed, “Of course. Stand by.”

Aleta had walked up to Fiona then and put a hand on her shoulder, “I did not actually intend to hurt you.”

Fiona smiled at her mother-in-law and shook her head, “I know that. But let’s not tell Yondu.”

The dark-haired woman smiled and the wings at her shoulders flashed yellow, “Nor Stakar.”

“It appears in that circumstance that the protection nanobots responded to a release of Cortisol in her bloodstream,” Mainframe reported.

“There has to be a way for me to access the ability and control it myself though. Waiting for my adrenal gland to release Cortisol is not the most reliable means of protecting myself or anyone else,” Fiona snarked and motioned her hands around at everyone as she spoke.

“We could perhaps work on their programming. It will require deeper scans though. If you connect me to your scanner we’d gain more information,” Mainframe replied.

“Peter, Drax, and Gamora report to the M ship bay,” Kraglin’s voice sounded over the ship coms. “Rocket and Fiona report to control.”

“Stakar, Yondu, and the rest must have returned with the new ships,” Aleta told them.

“Finally!” Peter grinned and rubbed his hands together.

“Oh no!” Fiona pointed a finger at him. “Fix the _Milano_!”

He chuckled, “We are, I just want to see the new ones.”

Gamora shook her head as he jogged ahead of the rest of them, “He’s such a…” She waved her hand trying to find the right word to describe him.

“Child?” Fiona asked, and picked up Mainframe.

Pursing her lips Gamora considered it for a second and nodded.

“Just remember…he’s yours now. No returns, no exchanges,” Fiona laughed as she followed Rocket to control with Mainframe under her arm.

“I don’t know what that means,” Gamora threw back.

“It means you can’t give me back to my parents if you decide I’m too much trouble!” Peter yelled.

“I could just murder you in your sleep.”

“Hey!”


	2. I Like You Like That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mantis has a question for Kraglin.

"Kraglin?"

Mantis' quiet deliberate voice floated up to him from the deck below him where he was wedged up inside of one of the _Milano's_ air intakes trying to clean out all of the crap Peter and Rocket caught in it on their crash landing onto Berhert. "Yeah?" He called down to her.

"Do I make your nether regions engorge?"

He lifted himself up to look down at her and struck his head on the hull of the intake making him see stars briefly. "Damnit!" Kraglin yelled and rubbed at his forehead before shimmying out of the intake and dropping down in front of Mantis who was nervously working her hands together.

She jumped slightly at his appearance but otherwise remained calm.

"Where didja hear that?" Kraglin asked her quietly and steered her to an area on the other side of the ship where they could sit down on some crates.

"Drax said..." She started and Kraglin held a hand up to stop her before she went any further, he knew the story Mantis was about to repeat. Drax told it constantly.

"Mantis, Drax don't know how to keep his mouth shut," he told her.

She smiled that wide luminous smile that made Kraglin's heart skip a beat every time he saw it. "He does talk a lot doesn't he?" While she was growing more comfortable with different aspects of social interactions, including general conversation, her speech still exaggerated some words which he found cute.

"Yeah," he studied her for a second. "Do ya even know what that means?"

Mantis looked insulted, or at least that's what he thought the look was, sometimes it was hard to tell since she was still learning she could openly express herself. "Yes, I know what that means Kraglin. I heard Drax's story and I know what it meant for Ego." Kraglin cringed at that, he could only imagine what Ego had passed on to his daughter on the finer points of sex, especially considering he'd never even treated her as his child. He didn't think she was totally naive but he also wasn't sure just how much she really understood since she had been so sheltered. "I don't trust any of what I learned on Ego so I went to Fiona and Gamora and asked them."

He raised an eyebrow and grinned slightly at her then, "Sooooo they told ya what it means and yer still askin' me that?"

She just nodded. If he was reading her right her expression appeared self-conscious.

Kraglin sighed, "Can I ask you a question first?"

Mantis smiled and nodded, "Of course."

"Do ya like me?"

She pursed her lips and looked at him like she might not understand where he was going with his question.

"Okay, let me clarify. Do ya like me like Fiona likes Yondu, or Gamora likes Peter?" He watched her face light up as she understood what he was asking and that wide smile of hers appeared again.

"I am starting to."

Kraglin returned the smile and nodded, "Well I'm starting to like ya like that too."

Mantis stood then, "I should let you get back to work."

"Yeah. The _Milano_ is the only M ship we have right now and Rocket and Peter flarked it up pretty good," he breathed a sigh of relief that he'd smoothly avoided her question and stood as well. Putting his fingertips on the small of her back he shuffled her over to his left side and walked with her back to where he'd been working on the ships air intake.

She started to turn away as he reached for the ladder grip to pull himself up, but she stopped and turned back toward him making him hesitate and watch her.

"You did not answer my original question," she scolded him.

He felt heat creep up his neck to his ears and was sure his face was turning blue. Turning away from her he pulled himself back up into the intake before answering her with a slight crack in his voice, "Yeah. Yeah, ya do."

Out of the corner of his eye over his shoulder he could see Mantis smile as she looked up at him. When he got back to where he was pulling limbs and debris free from the fan blades he heard her voice again.

"Kraglin?"

Bracing himself for what she might ask next he called down a muffled, "Yeah?"

"That is a good thing, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"Good."

When he heard her light footsteps walking away he reached down and readjusted himself, cursing the entire time that the slightest thing she did sparked that kind of reaction in him. She barely had to touch him and he'd feel his pulse pick up or a tingle in his spine. Any more than the barest of touches and yeah, damnit, she'd made his nether regions engorge as Drax so eloquently put it. Mantis had been the first woman to have quite that kind of affect on him and because she was still adjusting to life outside of Ego he was being very careful how he approached things with her. He didn't want to screw things up. Once he'd gotten his body back under control he went back to work cleaning out the fan and cursing Rocket and Peter to anything that would listen.


	3. A New Crew and Pac-Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discussions take place over what they need in a new crew. Drax tries to be helpful.

"We need a cook."

"All of us can cook."

"Without burning the food."

Pause.

"Okay, we need a cook."

"We need a tech expert."

"We have Mainframe."

"We need a tailor."

"Psssshhh...with three women on board?"

Dead silence.

"Ow! I didn't mean it like that!"

Sullen pause.

"Okay, we need a tailor."

"We need an engineer."

"We have two."

"We need a pilot."

"We have five good ones."

"We need muscle."

"We have Drax."

"And me."

"Peter, you're not muscle."

"Oh come on."

"I am Groot."

"Okay, we need muscle."

And so it went as they were all gathered in control of the _Eclector_ with Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex as well trying to decide what they needed in the new crew. Rather than take on brand new green recruits Stakar had asked all of the Ravager Captains to spread the word among their crews that Clan Udonta needed good Ravagers to fill their new ranks. If a Clan needed to replace a crew member they lost, it wouldn't be as difficult for a seasoned crew of ten to fifty to train one as it would for six to train twenty brand new Ravagers. They weren't relying on Drax to train anyone for anything more than fighting and insults, and Mantis was still learning how to be part of the team.

Mainframe had decided to give up her ship and join them since it was really just her remotely running androids when she had any jobs. That left an opening for a Clan which Aleta stepped into since she'd only broken off from Stakar to prevent him from replacing Yondu's during his exile. Apparently, it was better for both Stakar and Aleta, despite the fact that they loved each other fiercely, not to be on the same ship for too long a period of time.

After a lot of debate, consideration and reconsideration, arguing, name calling, and threats they'd decided on a crew. The cook was coming from Contraxia, the tailor from Xandar, but the other seventeen crew members were coming from various Ravager clans and they'd pick them all up on the way between Contraxia and Xandar. Of course, the Guardians had to decide on new leathers since they were a newly integrated part of the Udonta Ravager Clan, though the Udonta Clan leathers would remain the same dark red.

"I think we should put Pac-Man on our Ravager badge," Peter motioned his hands to draw the video game character in the air.

Gamora leveled him with a glare, "I have no idea what that is but I'm going to say no."

He pointed at her with a smile, "Haha! Rocket is my First Mate so he can veto you."

Rocket gave him a dubious look and shook his head, "I'm siding with Gamora on this one."

"The leathers you and Gamora wear are dark red, like Kraglin wears. Since the _Milano_ is orange and blue why not add one of those colors to our leathers?" Mantis offered.

"Not orange," Gamora cringed and showed her bare green arms. "The blue."

"Put a G inside yer Ravager patch son, that shows yer part a'the Guardians inside the Clan," Yondu offered.

Peter was looking around at all of them with an exaggerated frown on his face, "Fine but I'm putting Pac Man on my sleeve."

"That can be your Captain's badge," Fiona deadpanned.

"Mom are you making fun of me?" He spread his hands in supplication.

"Never Peter." She was proud she kept a straight face.

"A'right then. We got our crew, we got the Guardians leathers figured out. Guess we're headin' ta Contraxia to pick up the cook and some a'the crew is meetin' us planetside," Yondu said effectively breaking up the meeting in control.

"Come Mantis, today I will teach you to cook as it is my turn in the mess hall," Drax told the young woman who was still sitting to the side watching everyone with her hands on her knees.

Kraglin dropped his head in his hands, "No more stories Drax."

"Why? I am a good storyteller," The man returned.

Peter and Fiona both shot him a look, "No, you're not!"

"You Earthers have issues," he told them and turned to Mantis then who waited in the doorway. "Come, let me tell you the story of when my Hovat and I conceived our Kamaria."

Kraglin visibly cringed and jumped up to chase after them.


	4. It's That Unspoken Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SMUT chapter

"Come on Gamora, no one can see us out here." Peter said from the observation room of their cabin.

Rather than move into Peter's old room, which Rocket and Groot wound up taking, they chose Fiona's old room since it had more space and Peter liked the observation room. For more than just observation Gamora had surmised. It had been that unspoken thing. They hadn't even discussed if they'd move into separate quarters or share a cabin, it was automatic on both their parts to want to share.

Sighing she put down the sword she had been sharpening and walked over to where Peter was standing in the doorway to keep the door open. He held a hand out to her as he pushed the play button on the Walkman at his belt and _Bring It On Home To Me_ played making her wince slightly.

"Do over?" He asked with a sweet smile.

She smiled back at him and put her hand in his as he spun her around and into his arms. Gamora had to admit, being in Peter's arms felt good. It was still an adjustment to remember that she didn't have to be afraid of showing how she felt for the people she cared about anymore. Especially Peter, she could actually show him that she loved him without fear of Thanos discovering it and using him to control her. The problem was that she'd had to hide her emotions for so long, temper them, control them, beat them into submission, that she was afraid she didn't know how to express how she felt anymore. Every time she thought she was doing it right something made her think she was doing it wrong.

Even though they'd been sharing a bed since they'd been on board the _Eclector_ they hadn't had sex yet. Peter wouldn't be her first, there had been many before him, more than Gamora cared to admit. Sex had been a tool used to get a job done for Thanos. He never cared how his daughters carried out their orders, using their bodies to do so was expected if it was necessary. So because of that there had never been any feeling behind the act before. With Peter there was almost too much feeling and she was genuinely afraid of disappointing him.

They danced until the song ended and Peter turned the Walkman off again and let go of her. He motioned to the floor in front of the observation window where she saw a few pillows and a few of the furs from their bed. It made her heart melt and beat faster at the same time. Peter was being so sweet, and she knew he wouldn't push things beyond what Gamora could give him in the moment.

"I figured we could just lay here and look at the stars if you wanted to," he told her.

Gamora looked out at the stars then back to Peter and smiled, "I'd like that very much."

Peter bent down to unbuckle and take off his boots then removed his t-shirt and pants leaving him in what he called boxer shorts. At least he didn't wear those ridiculous white underwear that Yondu did. She removed her boots and leather clothing leaving her in her tank top and underwear and laid down in front of him to face the window with her head using his bent arm as a pillow. He pulled one of the furs over them and put his other arm around her holding her close against him. Her hands moved up to run along his forearm.

They laid there like that for awhile staring out at the stars in complete silence before Gamora shifted onto her back to look up at Peter who also shifted so his head was propped up on his hand. He was so handsome with the way his smile lit up his face and his eyes twinkled down at her. She felt like she could see entire galaxies in his eyes which were glowing a faint blue. That was something to dwell on at a later time as Ego was dead now and Gamora knew it wasn't that.

His brow crinkled slightly as she stared up at him. "What?"

She sighed, "It's just that unspoken thing."

Peter smiled and studied her face for a minute before finally speaking, "Gamora, I love you."

"I love you too Peter."

He leaned down to kiss her and this time she let go and let herself feel. Her heart rate picked up, her skin felt flushed, and she felt a tingling low in her belly. Shifting again slightly she pulled him so he lost his balance on his elbow and leaned over onto her. She could feel his erection pressing into her hip then.

"Ahhh, Gamora..."

He started to move away but she grabbed his hip to stop him and hooked her foot behind his knee. His eyes widened a little but fortunately he got the hint because he leaned down to kiss her again and put a little more of his weight on her. Gamora relished in the feel of him. Peter smelled good, really good, like leather and spice, and he was solid everywhere she touched. He had complained on Ego that she liked him being the weak one, but the truth was he really wasn’t. For the first time she found someone she actually considered an equal. Someone she felt safe baring her soul to.

His lips had made their way to the soft spot on her neck causing more tingling and his hand was kneading its way from her hip up her side setting her skin on fire where he touched. When he went to push the fabric of her tank top up he paused and looked in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, worried she’d somehow done something to disappoint him already.

He looked confused at her question a second and blinked a few times before saying anything, “Nothing’s wrong Gamora. I was making sure you were okay with what I was doing. You’ve done…” Waving his hand down toward their hips he bounced his head back and forth a few times, “This before right?”

She started to say many times, but stopped because that wasn’t really the message she wanted to convey to the man she loved in that particular moment. Lifting her hands to his face she held him so his eyes were on hers and his free hand covered hers and squeezed it as if he were unconsciously letting her know it was okay. “Peter, I’ve had sex before. But it was always a tool to complete some mission Thanos sent me on. It was never with feeling.” She paused when his eyebrows drew down over his eyes as he looked at her. “This time there’s so much feeling and that’s new to me. I love you and I don’t want to disappoint you.”

That sweet sincere smile of his appeared on his face again as he brushed his thumb over her cheek and touched his lips to hers so they were sharing breath as he spoke, “You can’t ever disappoint me Gamora.”

He kissed her again and his hand returned to pull up the fabric of her tank top and remove it. When his hand found her breast and his thumb ran over her hardened nipple she felt a rush of wet heat between her thighs. Gamora resisted the urge to take control and lost herself in the sensations Peter’s lips, tongue, and fingers were eliciting from her body. It was erotic, sensual, and so incredibly intimate her body felt like there were a million little jolts of electricity firing through it. When his fingers skimmed the waistband of the underwear she wore she lifted her hips so he could slide them down and over her legs. As his fingers ran back up the inside of her leg to her thigh and higher a soft moan escaped her lips when they found the wetness there. Her moan grew louder when he slid a finger inside of her and curled it slightly as he pulled it back out. He did that a few more times which prompted more moans from her.

Peter smiled against the skin of her breast as his tongue ran around her nipple, “Kinda like that sound.”

She reached down and pushed at the waistband of his shorts. Thankfully he caught the hint and removed the shorts leaving his hard-throbbing erection bare to her hand. Running her fingers over the silky skin of the head she used the pad of her thumb to spread the moisture she found there and trailed her fingers along his shaft.

He jumped slightly and grabbed her hand, “This isn’t going to last long if you keep that up.”

Gamora smiled up at him then and nudged him over top of her with her foot. When he was between her legs with the head of his erection pressed against her lips his eyes held hers and he went completely still. Bracing himself up on his forearms on either side of her shoulders he put his hands on her face and his thumbs traced her cheekbones. She lifted her hands to his wrists and her eyes held his while he seemed to be searching for something.

“I love you Peter.”

He smiled then and bent his head so his lips touched hers and they were again sharing a breath when he spoke, “I love you too Gamora.”

His hips thrust forward then and Gamora felt him slide all the way inside of her triggering another soft moan. She felt more pinpricks of electricity shoot through her body starting from where they were connected and the sensations grew as he slowly started to rock his hips. Her legs lifted to wrap around his waist and her hips matched his rhythm which he gradually increased in pace. His lips moved from hers to her ear where she felt his breath and his lips lightly kissing over the soft skin at her earlobe. Suddenly her body felt like it exploded into wave upon wave of pure absolute bliss and her connection to Peter was at the center of it. Her back arched and she threw her head back as she cried out his name. With only a few more thrusts Peter lost control of himself and his hips began to falter as he growled out her name. They remained that way, connected, their bodies trembling from their shared orgasm until their bodies were both mostly under control. He shifted then so that he was leaning over her without all of his weight on her.

“That was amazing,” Peter said into her ear.

“It was the most incredible experience of my life,” Gamora said without thinking, the after-orgasm hormones must have scrambled her brain she thought when Peter lifted his head and looked at her with one of his goofy grins. She laughed lightly then and hooked a finger under his chin, “Don’t let it go to your head.”

His smile turned to that genuine sweet smile of his that made her heart stop and he leaned down to kiss her softly. She shifted in his arms so she was facing the window again and they lay there looking out at the stars until they fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking I'll continue posting two chapters with each update. The first will be a group chapter and the second a chapter on one of the couples which will occasionally be smutty like this one was.


	5. New Crew, New Rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yondu has something to say to the new crew.

"Listen up! Cap'ns got some'n ta say!" Kraglin called over the new crew gathered in the mess hall of the _Eclector_ as he pulled the door closed and walked to the front of the room where Yondu stood in front of Fiona, the Guardians, Stakar, Aleta, and Martinex. The only one missing was Mainframe who was keeping watch in control, having been a Captain herself she didn't need to hear Yondu's speech. Kraglin took his place on Yondu's right side and crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes swept over the crew.

The new crew was a good mix of beings, mostly men, a few women, and a few multi-gendered species.

Yondu swept his duster back to expose his Yaka arrow when he placed his hands on his hips and started to pace in front of the crew. “Now almost all a’ya come from other Clans and been Ravagers for a few years so ya know the code. The two a’ya that don’t Kraglin is gonna make sure ya do. Yer part a’Clan Udonta now, I’m yer Captain, Yondu Udonta, our ship is the _Eclector_. This…” Yondu motioned to Fiona whose facial expression was almost a mirror of Aleta’s, hard and stoic, “…is my wife Fiona. Ya treat her with the same respect ya treat me, and if ya don’t like me ya treat her better. Anythin’ she says, treat it like it came from me. She’s our medic and Head Ship Mechanic. And she earned that position long before she was my wife.” The last said with snarled emphasis and since no one made a comment he turned and motioned to Kraglin and Peter then, “These’re my boys.”

That made Peter grin goofily, Kraglin kept his grin a little more dignified, though he discreetly bumped Peter’s shoulder with his. Yondu just smirked and shook his head before he moved on.

“Kraglin is First Mate a’this ship for a damn reason, he earned it. Don’t mistake his easygoing demeanor fer thinkin’ he’s soft. I seen him use that wicked knife on his back to open up men meaner and bigger’n him. He gives ya an order ya follow it, same as if it came from me. Peter is my Second, and he’s the Guardians Captain. Most a’ya won’t be workin’ with the Guardians but the _Eclector_ is their base so they’ll be around. Any issues between one a’ya and the Guardians ya take it up with Peter or his First Mate Rocket. If Peter gives ya an order in relation to Ravager business ya follow it same as ya would Kraglin. If he tells ya to stay out of Guardian business ya stay out of it. Bottom line, these people up here are my family. Ya fuck with my family ya fuck with me. I’m a fair Captain as long as ya follow the Code and don’t fuck with my family. Clear?”

There was a resounding ‘Yes sir Captain’ from the crew.

“One more thing,” Yondu looked over the new crew again. “Some a’ya men come from all male crews and the only women ya see are planetside and the brothel bots. Listen up, and listen good. I don’t care what ya do with or how much ya go to the sex bots. I don’t care how much sex ya have with a willin’ being. But ya don’t pay fer sex with a live being, that’ll get ya thrown off this ship. And ya don’t ever force a live being into sex. If me, Kraglin, or Peter find out ya did we will take ya out, I don’t care where it happened. That might not be in the code, but it’s the rule on this ship. Understood?”

“Yes sir Captain!” The crew replied in unison.

Stakar held up a hand then, “I want to make sure everyone knows that Yondu has my full backing. You’re all here because you volunteered to fill the new ranks of Clan Udonta and were chosen to do that. You’re Ravagers, you adhere to the code. Period. You follow your Captain’s orders. Period. If anyone has a problem with any of that, or the rules of Yondu’s ship you better speak up now and you can go back to your old crew. Otherwise this is your new Clan.”

No one said a word.

“Alright, all of ya, except Essa and Ruml, back to work now!” Kraglin barked at them and the crew dispersed out of the mess hall except the tailor and the cook who, to Drax’s great amusement and Peter’s chagrin, was an A’askavarrian. Kraglin motioned Essa and Ruml to follow him and they left the mess hall with Mantis following and they saw Kraglin catch her elbow and move her to his left side when he realized she was with them.

Peter watched them go with a goofy grin and he started to open his mouth until Gamora pointed a finger at him.

“What? I didn’t say anything!” He held his hands out palms up and wore a slightly wounded expression.

“Kraglin has enough to deal with, with Drax telling Mantis…” Fiona paused for a second to find the right word, “...inappropriate stories…”

“What inappropriate stories?” Drax asked, looking completely clueless.

Rocket put his paws on his hips and looked up at the man, “Dude? Really? Mantis ain’t exactly lived in the world with the rest of us.”

“Exactly why I am trying to educate her,” Drax offered.

Peter rolled his eyes and made that ‘pssshhh’ sound of his, “Man, wrong kind of education.”

“Enough already,” Fiona stopped them. “Drax, there are some things Mantis really doesn’t need to hear from you.” Shaking her head she widened her eyes and mumbled, “There are some things I really don’t need to hear from you.”

“There are some things none of us need to hear from him,” Peter said and shuddered.

Rocket shook his head and started to walk out of the room, “I’m going back to control. At least Mainframe doesn’t tell disgusting stories. I gotta check on Groot anyway.”

Aleta looked at Fiona then, “Mainframe did some reprogramming on your nanobots did she not?”

“Yes.”

“Come then. Let’s go to the training room and work on your shields,” she said.

“I’ll come supervise,” Gamora followed them.

Yondu looked between Peter and Stakar, “Do I wanna ask?”

Stakar and Peter looked at each other then simultaneously shook their heads, “No.”


	6. Touchstone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SMUT chapter  
> Fiona's thoughts also touch on what happened during the mutiny.

Fiona laid under the furs in their bed as she watched Yondu moving around the room, taking off pieces of his leathers, and moving things. She had been wearing her flannel pants and thermal shirt since the mutiny while both she and Yondu healed but tonight she was naked. Yondu’s lungs were strong again, he had the occasional cough but it didn’t leave him needing oxygen like it was at first. His exile had been lifted. She was finally his wife. They had the new crew. Peter and the Guardians were with them. Life was finally really good.

“I can feel ya watchin’ me Darlin’,” Yondu said to her as he started undoing the fastenings on his pants.

Fiona rolled to her side and propped herself up on her elbow with a grin, “Well I did marry the sexiest Centaurian in all the Galaxies.”

He chuckled slightly and sat on the side of their bed to remove his boots, “Pretty sure I got the better end of that deal.”

She smiled and reached a hand out to run her fingers over the scars on his back. He didn’t flinch when she did that any longer. It had been her habit for years to make a point to touch his scars as often as possible so he’d always remember she loved every piece of him. When he finished undressing he turned and touched a hand to her cheek then traced her jaw with his thumb. Fiona grabbed his hand and reached her tongue out to swirl around the tip of his thumb making him suck in a breath.

His eyes got a feral look and he searched her eyes for a minute until she smiled. That was apparently all the incentive he needed because he stood up, threw the furs back from her body, grabbed her hips, and pulled her toward him so he was between her legs. Her heart started hammering in her chest. It had been so long and she missed Yondu. Missed the feel of him. His scent. The warmth of his body. And gods help her the way he moved.

When he ran a blue thumb over her clit making her jump and moan softly he smiled, and that smile grew even wider when he realized just how wet she was. She watched while one of his fingers disappeared inside of her and hooked just slightly as he slid it back out making her throw her head back and moan softly again. He leaned down and his tongue flicked first one nipple then the other as his finger continued it’s slow torture. It didn’t take long before her body was crashing into it’s first orgasm and Yondu’s finger just wasn’t enough for her. He grinned at her wickedly when she tried her hardest to get his cock inside of her instead but he just put his other hand over her abdomen effectively pinning her. She gripped the furs in her hands as her body shuddered in ecstasy with just Yondu’s finger working her to a frenzy. Her eyes flew to his when he finally pulled that finger from her and put it in his mouth, sucking the evidence of what he’d just done to her from it with a pop before he looked down at her with another of his sexy grins.

“Darlin’ I’m gonna make you cum with my tongue before you cum on my cock,” he growled and got down to his knees in front of her to put his tongue to her still slick and quivering lips.

Her brain was so overwhelmed by the first orgasm she barely registered him shouldering her legs as his tongue ran over her lips and inside her aching core. She relaxed into him though until she felt the tension building at her clit again and he sucked it between his lips to flick it with his tongue making her moan even more. Yondu knew exactly how to work her body. He’d watched her reactions to what he did to her during sex for years. So he knew that working her clit with his tongue at that point would send her over the edge hard and it did exactly that. Fiona arched her back up off the bed crying out his name and digging her heels into his back. She was aching to be filled by him but once again, the tip of his tongue was all she got, and it just wasn’t enough.

As her body started to relax again from her second orgasm he moved to flip her over but she held out a hand to stop him. His eyes caught hers as she spoke, “Not like that. Please.”

Something flashed in his eyes then as well as his implant, and knowing him as well as she did she knew it was pain at not having been able to protect her when he thought she’d needed him most. They moved up the bed then so he could cover her with his body and he settled between her legs. The head of his long, hard, hot erection pressed into her lips at her entrance and Fiona’s core involuntarily clenched in anticipation of the feeling of him inside of her. Yondu bent to kiss her then and she could taste herself on him which was so erotic in that moment she almost felt like she could cum from those kisses. His hand moved to palm her breast where he rolled her nipple between this thumb and forefinger sending little jolts of electricity all the way to her toes.

“Yondu please, I need you inside of me,” she begged, and when she caught his smile she knew that’s all he’d been waiting for. Sometimes he just liked to work her up to the point he had her begging for him to be inside of her. She thought it did something to boost his confidence in himself, something she wouldn’t have thought he lacked, but he was forever doubting he was good enough. Her begging him to be inside of her was like the ultimate reminder to him that for her he was it, he was the only man who got to see her like this, who got to hear her beg, or make her come undone. He was the only one she allowed herself to be vulnerable with and he never took that for granted.

He thrust his hips then, filling Fiona completely and bumping her cervix, making her moan. When he pulled almost completely out of her she lifted her legs to wrap around his waist and used her locked ankles to pull him down into her hard making him chuckle.

“Darlin’ want things hard and fast now?” He asked as he gave her another hard thrust and ground into her at the last second.

“Yes Yondu, yes, please,” she begged again.

He gave her exactly what she wanted, hard and fast, and by the time she felt the tension in her body getting ready to release for a third time she was tingling from head to toe. White light exploded behind her eyes and she felt her core clench down hard around Yondu over and over as her body came undone around him and her abdominal muscles quivered with the effort. Her words were mostly incoherent then, a mix of his name and probably more begging. She wasn’t sure. As she continued to shudder his thrusts grew more erratic until he was growling out her name and tensed on top of her with one last hard thrust that was a mix of pain and pleasure. When his body finally relaxed and the last spasm left Fiona’s body Yondu moved off of her, pulled one of the furs over them, and held her as close to him as he could get her. Her fingers traced his scars as his hand swept lightly up and down the skin of her arm.

“Yondu?”

“Hmmmm?”

“Thank you for what you said to the crew today,” she whispered, hoping he’d understand what she was referring to. They hadn’t talked about what happened in the mess hall during the mutiny, but he knew. She was aware Kraglin had told him what he’d seen and Yondu was familiar enough with Fiona’s prior trauma to understand her mental and physical reactions to it. Though they had been together for a lot of years this time and there was trust built between them now that had made Fiona feel safe. Yondu was her touchstone.

“Ya don’t need to thank me for that Darlin’, I want ya to know yer safe on this ship even if I’m not with ya,” he told her with a kiss to her forehead.

She melted even further into him, “I love you. Always and forever.”

“I love ya too. Yer the only woman I’ll love in any life.”

Fiona smiled against his scarred blue chest and fell asleep listening to his heart beating against her ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all of y'all liking the Kraglin/Mantis pairing there will be upcoming chapters where they are the couple I focus on but that smut will be a good while yet. And yes, Rocket and Mainframe will star in a couple's chapter or two but no smut there. lol  
> Prompts are welcome.


	7. First Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter worries he's getting fat and Fiona offers her new abilities to a job.

"First Clan Udonta Guardians of the Galaxy mission," Peter said as he hovered over Yondu's shoulder who was scrolling through potential jobs on the holopad in front of him. They were all gathered at the table in the Captain's quarters to discuss their next move.

Yondu turned to look over his shoulder at Peter with one corner of his lip over his teeth.

"That doesn't scare me anymore. I know you're not going to eat me," Peter pointed at Yondu with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty sure Terran is tough and stringy anyway. Not enough meat, too much fat," Yondu said with a lopsided grin as he turned his attention back to his holopad.

Fiona snorted and started choking on the drink she had just taken prompting Drax to start pounding on her back which sent her about three feet from where she was originally standing.

"Hey! I am not getting fat!" Peter yelped then looked to Gamora, "Am I?"

"I am Groot," the little tree offered from where he stood on the table.

Peter looked sullen then, "I am not soft."

Gamora gave him a playful grin, "You're just fine Peter."

His eyes moved quickly around the room and he bounced his chin down toward his pants.

"Oh my god Peter, stop," Gamora said while her face turned slightly purple.

"This reminds me of a time when my Hovat and I..." Drax started from his chair to Yondu's right.

Mantis jumped up quickly and walked right over to him with a smile on her face. She had her hands clasped in front of her, and they all thought she was just going to sit next to him and listen to his story like she normally did. But when she got right next to him she put a hand to his forehead, "Sleep..."

The man's head lolled back and he immediately started snoring lightly. Mantis returned to her place next to Kraglin and looked at the group who was staring at her in astonishment and mild amusement.

"I don't need to hear him tell us another story that ends in Hovat making his nether regions engorge," she said putting emphasis on 'other' and in the 'or' of her last word.

"That's my girl," Kraglin grinned at her and put his left arm around her shoulders, then blushed blue to his ears when he realized everyone at the table heard him and was looking at them. Removing his arm from around Mantis' shoulders he crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look serious when he cleared his throat, "Ah find anythin' interestin' Cap'n?"

Yondu had been giving Drax a death glare as the snoring gradually got louder but he turned back to the holopad and continued scrolling. "A few."

Peter reached a hand over his shoulder and pointed at the holopad, "What about that one?"

Leaning forward Yondu looked closely at the details. Retrieve an artifact for the broker in a ruin on Interdis, a planet devastated by the Badoon. The buyer was willing to pay 2 billion units for the artifact, of which the broker would take his usual fifteen percent.

"What if it's another Infinity Stone Peter?" Gamora asked.

He looked at her troubled expression and put an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to him.

"I can use my telekinesis and shields to open the artifact and protect myself to make sure it's not," Fiona offered.

Yondu turned so quickly to his left to look at her that his chair knocked into the table waking Drax up.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Wormhole," Peter deadpanned.

Drax didn't even blink, he just turned to look at Fiona with the rest of the group.

Fiona held up a hand before Yondu could shoot her idea down, "Mainframe and Rocket did some reprogramming of my nanos and I can access both now. I'm working on control, but once the broker give us specs of the ruin we can run through training using that information so I can prepare."

Peter was looking at Fiona with a pursed lipped expression, then he glanced around the room to everyone else. "There's a reason we are who we are. We might be the Guardians of the Galaxy by accident but it's what we do. At least we know if we find it's something dangerous we can put it into the right hands."

Fiona felt her heart swell at Peter's statement. She was so proud of the man he'd grown up to be, and the genuinely good leader he'd become in just a few months.

Yondu's lip was curled up over his teeth again as he looked at the holopad so long they all thought he was going to say no. Finally he sighed and stood up. "A'right. But..." He pointed a blue finger at Fiona then Peter and spoke directly to Peter, "If I don't like the way things look, I'm pullin' her out."

Fiona put a hand on Yondu's shoulder, "Yondu, you can't keep me locked up on the ship because you think something is too dangerous for me. If you do that then you may as well lock up Peter and Kraglin, and then they'll have to lock up everyone else too and nothing will get done."

He grasped her hand while he typed in the code to let the broker know they were accepting the job, "Fiona, yer my wife, I'm gonna worry, and I'm gonna wanna protect ya even when it's not rational. So just let me say it and pretend like yer gonna listen will ya?"

"Yes Captain."

He turned to look at her with narrowed eyes and a grin, lifting his hand he pointed at her, "Yer bein' a smart ass again."

"Yep," she grinned at him and popped the p making him roll his eyes.


	8. More Firsts...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mantis goes with Kraglin to Xandar.
> 
> No smut for this couple yet horndogs. It's not that kind of first. ;O)

The Captain had talked to the broker via the holopad com after accepting the job to retrieve the artifact from Interdis so they had most of the information they needed. However, the broker, as he usually managed to, had a holodisk with maps and other important information on it that they had to retrieve from him on Xandar. Yondu was occupied with Fiona, Peter, Rocket, and Mainframe in the training room working on Fiona's control over her telekinesis and shields so he sent Kraglin planetside in one of the new M ships. The one he'd chosen was named _Glasgow_ in honor of Tullk and he still hadn't decided on how he wanted to paint the hull.

When he'd gotten his orders from Yondu to fly down to Xandar and meet the broker he'd left immediately for the M ship bay. It seemed without even thinking about it that Mantis stood and followed him out of the training room. When he heard her light footsteps he shortened his stride so she could catch up and he moved her to his left as he always did. She looked up at him, her eyes crinkled in the corners like she was considering something, and he just side eyed her.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what Mantis?"

"Whenever I walk with you, you put me on your left side," she said. He watched her tilt her head a little bit as she thought about that. "Come to think of it Peter does it to Gamora, and Yondu does the same to Fiona."

Kraglin's lip curled up on the right side of his face where she couldn't see his half smile, "Yeah, that's cause our hearts on our left side, and our flames sit over our hearts."

"Oh."

He was silent while Mantis turned that over in her head and he figured she was trying to determine why that was so significant. When he looked over at her she was running her hands over each other trying to puzzle it out. He wasn’t sure he wanted to explain that further yet.

“Can I go to Xandar with you?” She asked then, like he hadn’t assumed she was coming.

“I figured that’s why ya were followin’ me,” Kraglin cut his eyes her way and grinned.

She slowed her pace and came to a stop then, and it took him a few strides to realize she wasn’t beside him anymore. When he did he shook his head slightly in confusion and turned around to look at her. Mantis looked upset, her eyes were focused on her boots, and she had her hands folded tightly in front of her. He strode back to her and looked down at her trying to figure out what he’d said.

“What’s wrong Mantis?”

“I follow you around too much don’t I?” She asked in a quiet voice.

“What?” He shook his head even though she couldn’t see him, “No, that’s not what I meant. C’mon Mantis.” Kraglin grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.

“You want me to come with you?” She asked in a happy voice and quickened her pace to keep up with him.

“Course I do,” Kraglin told her, she couldn’t read his emotions because he was wearing his gloves. He’d made a habit of wearing them so she couldn’t touch his skin, he thought their relationship would develop more organically that way. And with that thought he could feel the heat creeping up his face again as they walked by two of the new crew in the M ship bay.

When they got to the _Glasgow_ he opened the hatch and pulled down the ladder and motioned for her climb the ladder into the ship. He couldn’t help himself but he watched her ass wiggling back and forth while she climbed up the ladder and shook his head. If she knew he was ogling her she’d probably be ashamed of him. Kraglin sighed as he climbed up into the ship behind her. When he pulled the ladder up and closed the hatch he turned to find her standing next to it with an amused grin on her face.

“What?”

“Nothing Kraglin,” she told him with that wide smile he loved. “Will you show me how to fly the ship?”

“Sure, ya can be my co-pilot.” He rolled his eyes at himself, he sounded like a teenage boy with his first crush when he talked to Mantis sometimes.

They spent the short flight with Kraglin teaching Mantis about navs. When they landed on Xandar he pulled his ‘Clint Eastwood’ poncho on, years later he still had no idea what a ‘Clint Eastwood’ was but Peter swore that’s what his poncho looked like. They climbed down out of the hatch and stepped onto Xandarian soil.

Mantis was studying him with narrowed eyes, “Why do you wear that? Won’t it be too warm?”

He looked down at it, it was pretty warm over his leathers, but he’d always worn it when they were on his home planet. Except during the Battle of Xandar. All these years later though he couldn’t really remember why he wore it. When they started walking she automatically moved to his left side and he grabbed her hand to keep her close to him. “To be honest Mantis I don’t even remember anymore. I’m Xandarian, and since I left with the Cap’n I’ve always worn it whenever we come back.”

“Are you afraid someone will recognize you?”

“Maybe,” his heart thumped a little harder in his chest when he thought back to the tortured boy he’d been when Yondu had found him and offered him a place with the Ravagers.

Mantis was quiet a moment, “You don’t like being here do you?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line and sighed, “No, not really.”

She squeezed his hand and offered him a warm smile when he looked over at her which made him smile. Somehow, she made everything just a little better.

When they walked into the broker’s shop the man looked up at the two of them with his usual frown, “Mr. Obfonteri. Are you here for the information on Interdis?”

“Yep.” He let go of Mantis’ hand so she could wander the shop.

“I’ll be just a moment,” he told him and turned to go into the back of the shop, but turned back to Kraglin for a beat. “Don’t take anything please?”

Kraglin frowned sourly and stared after the man until he disappeared. When he turned around to see where Mantis was he found her looking at something in a case. Walking over to her he looked into the case she was looking at and saw a faceted tear drop shaped dark green gem made into a pendant hanging from a black metal chain. The green of the gem matched the green in Mantis’ hair.

“Wha’cha lookin’ at?” He asked, and mentally kicked himself for sounding like such an idiot.

“That necklace. It’s beautiful,” she told him with a smile and moved on to the next case.

He watched her move from case to case and decided before the broker made his way back out to him that he was going to get the necklace for Mantis. When they’d gotten what they came for, and Kraglin bought the necklace, he grabbed Mantis’ hand again and they headed back to the _Glasgow._ After they boarded the ship Kraglin removed his poncho and stopped Mantis before she climbed up to the pilot’s box.

She turned to look up at him with wide eyes and a smile and he picked up her hand and put the necklace in her palm.

“Kraglin, this is too beautiful for me,” she told him in a very serious tone.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, “Mantis what’re ya talkin’ about? You’re beautiful.”

She gasped, “No I’m not! I’m ugly.” She was emphasizing words again which told him she was unsure of herself.

“Who the flark told ya that?” Kraglin almost snapped, but kept his tone as light as he could.

“Drax said I am ugly, but that I am lucky because if someone loves me I’d know it was because they really loved me.”

“I’m gonna kill Drax,” Kraglin mumbled, and scrubbed his hand over his face before looking around the cabin. He grabbed her arms to pull her sideways onto his thigh between his knees as he sat in a chair next to where they were standing. “Mantis, you are not ugly. You are the most beautiful woman I ever seen. Stop believin’ everything Drax tells you.”

“You really think I’m beautiful?” Mantis asked and her speech emphasized the syllables of ‘beautiful’ which made him smile.

“Course I do.”

She smiled and kissed his cheek making heat rise through his cheeks. When she excitedly handed him back the necklace then turned her back to him and lifted her hair he fumbled with the clasp until he finally got it on her.

“Thank you Kraglin,” she was smiling at him and her fingers were playing over the facets of the jewel when she turned back to look at him. “No one has ever given me a gift before.”

“You’re welcome Mantis. I’m happy ta be your first,” Kraglin felt the heat creep up to his ears after realizing how that sounded. Fortunately she either didn’t catch the sexual innuendo or she didn’t care.


	9. Excalibur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fiona practices with her telekinetic abilities and tricks Drax. Mainframe asserts herself.

"Whoa," Peter held his hands up and stood back as Fiona used her telekinesis to float a heavy piece of an old broken turbine around the storage bay they were using.

All the Guardians were there, as were Yondu, Kraglin, and Mainframe. They all needed to be sure their plan to retrieve the artifact would work since all of them were part of it. After the broker took his cut they would get 1.7 billion units of which each of the crew would get a 1% share, each of them 5%, and the rest was being banked for overhead on the ship. They would be sitting pretty for a long time on this one job if they could successfully pull it off. And that hinged on Fiona.

"Set it down," Mainframe instructed and Fiona motioned her hand down to the floor next to Peter where the turbine softly landed.

He was looking between it and Fiona with wide eyes, "Drax can't even lift that thing."

"What? Of course I can," Drax sounded insulted, marched over to the turbine, and flexed his muscles. "Let me show you weak human."

Drax squatted in front of it, wrapped his arms around it, and tried to stand up. It didn't budge but maybe an inch. He tried again with the same result.

"I think I'll call it Excalibur," Fiona waved her hand like a wand with a shake of her head as Drax continued to try to lift the turbine on his own. When they'd had to remove the broken turbine from the engine room it had taken the small hauler they had on the old _Eclector_ along with 10 of their strongest crew members to remove it.

Peter guffawed and nodded his head vigorously, "Yes!"

"Is this another one of them Terran things?" Yondu asked as his eyes moved between his wife and son.

"Yeah, see Excalibur was a sword stuck in a stone that only the true king could get out of the stone. So you see Drax, that means you're not the King," Peter grinned and pointed over to him.

Fiona raised an eyebrow, lifted her hand and the turbine lifted in the air again, "I guess that means I'm Queen?"

Peter stomped his foot and looked disappointed, "Hey!"

Yondu grinned at the two of them, "Yeah, actually y'are the Queen a'the ship."

Rocket started snickering, "Well Quill, guess since you're their kid that makes you Star Prince."

Peter dropped his head making that 'pssshhhhh' sound again, and put his hands on his hips. "Star Lord. It's Star Lord."

"You are an excellent Star Lord Peter," Gamora deadpanned.

"Thanks," he looked at her and squinted his eyes when he realized she was probably making fun of him too. "I think."

A high-pitched siren sounded in the bay and they all covered their ears and looked around for the source of it.

"Can you carbon based life forms please shut up?" Mainframe's voice sounded irritated and was a little louder than normal.

Rocket froze at the sound of Mainframe's voice and looked a little wary when he turned around to walk back to the crate she was sitting on. He jumped up next to her and sat down with his paws on his furry knees as he looked at the rest of them.

"Sorry Mainframe," Fiona offered.

"Thank you. Now Fiona, it did appear that the heavy object put some strain on you but not overmuch. Your heart rate rose between five and ten percent without any added adrenaline output," Mainframe relayed to them. "However, while this may be the case with heavy objects that doesn't mean it will work the same way with lighter ones."

"Come again?" Peter asked.

"There's more counterweight with heavy pieces of junk against her pushing or pulling so she has more control," Rocket offered. "So with something light her control ain't gonna be as good because there's less counterweight."

"So then we focus on light stuff," Peter waved his hands around the room at the non-existent light objects, then frowned when he realized there really wasn't anything in there they could use.

"Will it work on organics?" Rocket asked Mainframe.

Mainframe's lights flashed over for a few seconds before they steadied again, "It should. What do you have in mind?"

Rocket turned his head toward Groot who sat on a crate on his other side with a coloring book and crayons they'd had since Peter was a child. Groot colored inside the lines. Peter had not.

Fiona backed up a little bit from where the little tree was with her hands up, "I don't know that I'm comfortable with that. What if I hurt him? He's just a baby."

Rocket sighed, "I know, but we kinda need to figure out if it will work on living stuff too. What if we're on a job and the only way to get to something or get one of us out of something is you?"

Mantis stepped forward then making Kraglin's eyes near bug out of his head, "You can use me. With my own abilities I'll be able to tell you better if anything is negatively affecting me."

Kraglin made a choking noise which made Mantis turn to him and put a hand on his arm. He quieted down but still looked a little strained.

Fiona looked to Peter, as Mantis' brother and the leader of the Guardians he really had the final say on whether he was willing to risk one of his team. As goofy and gregarious as he could be Peter was extremely smart and weighed risk as well as Yondu did. He also took his role as big brother very seriously.

Peter rested his hands on his hips as he looked between Mantis and Fiona with a serious expression. "Alright..." Kraglin started to open his mouth but Peter held up a hand to stop him then stepped toward Mantis and put a hand to her shoulder, "But if you feel anything, I mean absolutely anything, weird you say stop immediately. I mean even if you feel like you have to sneeze you say stop. Okay?"

Mantis nodded with a smile and hopped up on her toes to hug her brother, "Thank you."

He looked at Kraglin with a bemused expression and patted Mantis on the back, "I'm not sure this is something to be thanking me for but alright."

"For trusting me to be part of the team," she said when she let him go.

"Mantis I keep tellin' ya, yer part of the team," Kraglin said quietly.

She smiled over at him and just bounced her shoulders. It was going to take time for her to really feel that way. Mantis had been alone for at least thirty years with Ego on his planet except for the scattered interactions she'd had with siblings or other beings when Ego would venture off somewhere.

"Okay," Fiona said and looked around at everyone. "Here's goes nothing."

Raising her hand she held it out towards where Mantis stood and raised it up slightly. Mantis raised about 3 feet in the air.

"It feels like floating on a cloud," she giggled after a few minutes of Fiona moving her around the room.

Fiona lowered her hand slowly and Mantis dropped to the floor at the same pace, "I was trying to see if I could push a shield out underneath of you."

"Do that on me!" Drax said enthusiastically.

Fiona smiled, for anyone but Kraglin, Peter, or Yondu, they would have thought it was just a normal smile. The three of them recognized it as being the mischievous smile she wore when she was up to something. She turned toward Drax then and held out her hand, lifted it up higher than she had with Mantis, and suddenly whipped her hand back. Drax fell then and about a foot off the ground he bounced like he'd landed on something soft then dropped to the floor.

"Hey!"

They all snickered just a little bit.


	10. Space Grump

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Gamora have a little heart to heart about the upcoming job.

Gamora woke up to find Peter's side of the bed empty. She got up and searched their room but he wasn't in there so she threw her clothes on and walked out into the main cabin. He wasn't out there either. Putting her hands on her hips and thinking about it she decided to check the _Milano_. He tended to gravitate toward the ship and listening to his Zune when things were weighing on his mind.

When she got to the M ship bay she could hear the faint sounds of music coming from the direction of the _Milano_ and as she approached it she realized she'd been right. Peter had a hatch under the ship open and was standing on a crate using what sounded like a ratchet. His upper body, from about mid-chest, was up inside the hatch.

"Peter?"

His head ducked down to look at her, "Hey. You alright?" He turned the volume of the Zune down.

She nodded up at him, "I woke up and you were gone."

Peter grinned cheesily while he wiped his hands off making her roll her eyes.

"What's on your mind Peter?" Gamora asked him softly.

He looked at the rag he was wiping his hands off with then jumped down from the crate and walked back over to the rolling tool and parts chest he'd pulled from the wall to drop it on there. After a minute he turned back toward Gamora and settled one hand on his hip while the other forearm rested over top of the chest.

"I'm just antsy I guess," he admitted after some time. Peter was strong, in mind, heart, and body, but he wasn't made of stone. For the most part he wore his emotions on his sleeve and that was one of the many reasons Gamora loved him. She could tell he was worried and scared.

"What do you mean?"

He waved her over to a crate set off to the side of the ship and they sat down on it. "I guess this feels a little too much like retrieving the orb from Morag. Only this time it's not just me that I have to worry about," looking in her eyes he raised a hand to her cheek.

She grasped his wrist in both of her hands and smiled at him, "Peter, you're a good leader. You know that. We wouldn't have followed you after the Battle of Xandar if we all didn't feel that way."

"I know. But this is family now. Almost losing Yondu, and all of the shit I said to Fiona before that?" He shook his head and dropped his hand to rest both his forearms over his thighs. "I'm afraid Gamora. I finally found my family. My real one anyway, and I don't want to lose any of you."

She leaned her head against his, "You're not going to lose us Peter. For all of our faults we're a good team. And both you and Yondu will be leading this job, it's not just you. The two of you together are pretty formidable."

Peter's lip quirked up on one side and he nodded as he sat up and put his arm around her, "Yeah, I guess we are." He paused for a minute while he thought about something, "You know for as much as I complained about him Yondu is actually a good Dad. He taught me how to fly, how to shoot, how to fight. When to fight and when to back away. But you know what the most important thing he taught me was?"

Gamora smiled at him and shook her head.

"How not to be a douchbag," he said with a small smile and shrug.

"Peter I'm pretty sure you were never destined to be a..." she hesitated over the word a minute since she really had no idea what it meant. "Douchebag."

He was shaking his head, "No, I was. I would have been. If he'd given me to Ego when he was supposed to I would have been the most arrogant big headed douchebag that ever lived. But even not giving me to Ego I was headed that way. I was an angry kid a lot of the time. I mean is Yondu the galaxy's biggest grump? Hell yeah. But he really is a good Dad."

Gamora's heart swelled a little more listening to Peter talk. For as frustrating as he could be when he was being stubborn or goofy he was the best of men and she counted herself lucky that he chose her to fall in love with. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him, enjoying the feel of him when he pulled her in closer and kissed the top of her head. They sat like that for a while listening to the music of his Zune from the headphones he had draped around his neck and just enjoyed being still with each other.

 


	11. It Was Just A Small Explosion

The artifact was in the center of the room in front of them. Hovering about five feet off the ground surrounded by a bubble of energy set to explode if anyone attempted to take it. Further they couldn’t get a gravity mine in to retrieve it because the mine would set off the multitude of other booby traps in the room.

“Well…” Rocket held up the scanner he and Mainframe made which showed the location and type of booby traps set in the room. “I don’t think we’re doin’ this job. We can’t get to it without gettin’ shot, sliced, frozen, or exploded.”

“Damn,” Peter said and studied the scanner when Rocket handed it up to him.

Fiona stood just behind him looking over his arm at the screen, “Rocket, are most of them activated by pressure sensors on the floor?”

His furry face crinkled and he put his paws on his hips, “Yeah…Why?”

“Well…” she started but Peter stopped her.

“Wait a minute Bones, if you are even going to suggest what I think you are Yondu will pierce every one of our hides with that damn arrow of his.”

“Peter, this job is huge and could get us ahead in case we don’t get anything this good for a while. It’s worth my trying. I can put up a shield in front of me and pull the artifact out of it’s energy bubble and over to me. If I need to I can wrap a second shield around the energy bubble to contain the explosion,” she explained.

Peter made that ‘pssshhhhh’ sound he’d grown to like and scrubbed his hand over his face. He looked down at Rocket, “What do you think?”

“I think we’re gonna see the pointy end of Yondu’s arrow,” Rocket told him.

Gamora and Drax were waiting at the ruin entrance for them, standing guard in case anyone else might be out looking for the same artifact. Especially if somehow it were an infinity stone. Rocket, Peter, and Fiona had been tasked with retrieving the stone.

Fiona rolled her eyes, “You two could have a little more faith in me.”

“Mom. It’s not that I don’t have faith in you. I do. But we don’t know how much energy that blast will put out. What if you can’t hold it back?”

Taking a deep breath Fiona put her hands on her hips, “If I put a shield around it first I’ll be able to tell if I can contain it or not.”

Rocket was shaking his furry head.

“You’re not going to let this go are you?” Peter asked.

Fiona shook her head.

“Fine,” he tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. “Hopefully Yondu won’t yell at me too much or poke too many holes in me. What do you need us to do?”

“Go back to the inner sanctum. That way you’re close enough I can call for you if I need to but far enough away not to distract me,” she told them.

Once they left and she was sure they’d had enough time to get to the safety of the room she’s asked them to go to she turned back to where the artifact floated. Reaching a hand up she created a shield around the energy bubble surrounding the artifact. It wasn’t going to be a small explosion. Sighing she put a shield up in the doorway then used her telekinesis to yank the artifact from inside the energy bubble and into her hand. Her eyes widened when she felt the beginnings of the explosion from the energy bubble she was shielding.

“Uh oh.” She turned and ran down the hall to where Peter and Rocket waited and kept both shields up behind her. When she made it to the inner sanctum she waved at them frantically toward the way out of the ruin. “Run!”

Rocket started running for the door before she even said anything. Peter however, looked at her for just a second with wide eyes before turning and running as well. When they got to the ruin entrance they kept running and yelled at Drax and Gamora to run too. Fiona concentrated all of her efforts to keeping the shields at the doorway to the artifact room and surrounding the energy bubble intact until they were on the _Milano_ and flying away from Interdis. Once they were she let go of the shields and they watched as the entire ruin was leveled by the resulting explosion.

Peter turned around in the pilot’s chair to look at Fiona with wide eyes.

She just shrugged, “What? It was just a small explosion.”


	12. Keeping Watch

Fiona was on third watch in control with Yondu on their way back to Xandar to take the artifact to the Broker. It was not an Infinity Stone. Or anything of any kind of power for that matter.

“Ya gonna tell me ‘bout that explosion Darlin’?” Yondu asked while he adjusted something on their flight path from the pilot station he sat at. His little knick knacks were all set out on his console as he always did when he was on watch. These days he usually only took watch when Fiona was assigned to third watch, but he would occasionally take watch with Peter or Kraglin as well. She fully believed he did it just to have some time alone with each of his sons. That was a luxury they rarely got these days.

Fiona kept her eyes on her own holopad while she monitored the jumps they had to go through to get to Xandar, “What explosion are you talking about Yondu?”

There was total silence next to her and when she turned in her seat she found Yondu giving her a hard look. His implant wasn’t flashing so he wasn’t angry but she knew better than to lie to him. She chose instead to look at him in confusion. He shook his head in exasperation, “Mainframe said there was an explosion on the surface of Interdis but y’all were already in the air.”

“Really?” Fiona chose to continue trying to feign confusion.

“Darlin’ yer pressin’ on my last nerve,” he told her.

“We were already in the air when I let the shields go Yondu, we weren’t in danger,” she explained quickly.

“Uh huh. That why Peter’s been dancin’ ‘round me since ya got back?” Yondu was grinning over at her and shaking his head.

She bobbed her head back and forth as if she couldn’t decide then looked over at him, “Probably. He was convinced you were going to fill him full of holes.”

“Prob’ly should,” he threatened mildly. “But I’m not gonna since I’m sure he tried and failed ta talk ya out of it.”

“Little bit,” she replied with a side eyed smile directed toward him.

“Yer bein’ a smart ass again,” he chuckled.

“After twenty-six years would you expect any less?” Fiona asked her husband.

“Nah.”

They were quiet for a while after that. Looking at their individual holopads, making adjustments to their flight path, and making sure the ship ran as it should. Even though they weren’t speaking they enjoyed those quiet times together where they worked together like two parts of a well-oiled machine. After so long together they barely needed to speak to each other to know what the other was thinking. They still had so many things left unsaid, things not yet discussed, that they might never talk about. Not because either of them were afraid to open up to the other but rather because they knew they had each other’s proverbial backs and when one or the other needed to they would talk.

By the time they got through the jumps to Xandar first watch was coming on. Rocket relieved Yondu of piloting duties and he and Fiona made their way to the M Ship bay to take the _Redeemer_ to the planet surface and deliver the artifact. The broker was immensely happy to see them.

“Captain Udonta, you have the artifact I hope?” The strange little man said.

“We do. Ya got our units?” Yondu said as he set the artifact on the counter between them with his hand on top of it.

“Of course. I assume you would like transfer to you?”

Yondu just looked at the man and drummed his fingers on the counter.

“Yes well. I will be one moment,” the Broker told him and went to the back of his shop briefly.

While the man was gone Yondu’s wrist com signaled the unit transfer and Yondu smiled at Fiona when he verified they had the units.

The Broker came back to the front with a tight smile plastered on his face, “I assume you received confirmation of the transfer and I can take the artifact?”

Yondu removed his hand but when the broker went to take it Yondu clapped his hand down over the man’s until his eyes met Yondu’s ruby ones, “Next time my First Mate comes to pick up information don’t insult ‘im.”

The Broker huffed and stiffened his back, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Nodding, Yondu removed his hand, and he and Fiona left.

Fiona took Yondu’s offered hand when they got to the street and looked at him for a second, “What was that all about?”

“Jus’ lookin’ out for our quiet boy,” was all Yondu said.


	13. Crickets, Boogers, and Boys

“Why’s this place always gotta be cheery?” Yondu grumped.

“Maybe because it pisses you off?” Peter told him.

Yondu turned Peter’s way with a hand out and Peter danced out of his reach. They were on Tradepost for some much-needed down time, restocking, and shopping for things they needed. Gamora, Fiona, and Mantis were planning on exploring the bazaar for items they needed and wanted as well, whereas Yondu, Peter, and Kraglin were after some supplies and weapons for the ship. Rocket and Mainframe had taken Groot to the forested area of the main town and Drax assigned himself to protect the entrance to the ship despite 4 members of the crew being assigned watch.

“Boy, yer what’s pissin’ me off here.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Yet.”

“Children! Stop!” Gamora ordered.

Kraglin took a step back away from Gamora who looked like she was ready to stab both Peter and Yondu in the eye.

Fiona put a hand to Yondu’s cheek, “Stop it Yondu. Go spend some time with your boys.”

“And try not to kill Peter,” Gamora requested.

Yondu was half turned away from Gamora by then and looked back with that mischievous shark’s grin of his, “Sure thing Booger.”

“Oh shit.” Peter dropped his face into his hand.

“Yondu Udonta, if you call me Booger one more time…” Gamora started but Peter was pulling him away before she could finish her sentence.

“Come on Dad. Before she kills us both,” Peter said. When the were far enough away from Gamora that Peter deemed them safe he let Yondu go. “Dude! What ever possessed you to call Gamora Booger?”

He shrugged, “She’s green.”

Peter stopped walking and looked at him like he’d grown another head, “Yeah, but not snot green!”

Yondu grinned and shrugged again.

“Geez! How has Mom put up with you all these years?”

Kraglin turned back to look at the two of them and saw Yondu hesitate.

“Honestly son, I dunno. I ain’t always been the best ta her,” he admitted then gave the two of them a hard look and pointed at each in turn. “Ya both better treat those girls like they’re princesses, cause if I ever find out either a’ya hurt either a’them I will tan yer hides. I don’t care how old y’all boys are. Ya got me?”

“Yes sir.” Kraglin blushed blue to his ears.

“Got it Dad.” Peter rolled his eyes.

When Yondu was satisfied they both understood he was very serious he spread his hands, “A’right, which’a’ya got our list?”

Gamora watched Peter drag his dad and brother away then turned back to Mantis and Fiona with a sigh.

Fiona was looking at her with a barely contained smirk.

“What? Go ahead and say it Fiona,” Gamora rolled her eyes and laughed.

“You know Yondu calls you that because he thinks of you as his daughter, right?” Fiona asked her.

“I know. That’s why I haven’t actually tried to kill him,” Gamora shrugged as they started walking.

“Is that why he calls me Cricket?” Mantis asked, she had her hands clasped up in front of her worrying with them again.

Fiona put her arm around Mantis’ shoulders, “Yes Mantis it is.”

Mantis thought about that for a minute then smiled, “Peter says he is a good dad.”

“Yeah, he has been. He’s had his moments with Peter and Kraglin, mostly Peter…” Fiona started.

“No surprise there,” Gamora interjected.

Fiona snickered, “Very true, but both of them have had their moments. I know Kraglin had a horrible childhood, and it took Yondu a long time to bring him out of his shell. And he’s had a few uncontrollable fits of temper. Peter was much younger than Kraglin but also more of a handful because he was so impulsive and cocky.”

Gamora raised an eyebrow and looked at Fiona, “He is _still_ impulsive and cocky.”

The older woman just shrugged, “I think I told you not all that long ago no returns and no exchanges.”

All three of them laughed at that as they made their way into a tent that sold various clothing items.

“I do not believe I have ever seen Kraglin upset,” Mantis told them.

Fiona shook her head, “I doubt you ever will, but if you do it won’t be directed at you. It will be because someone hurt you, or one of his family and it’s best to leave him be if that happens.”

“Kraglin doesn’t really look…” Gamora made a dismissive hand gesture.

“Dangerous?” Fiona asked, and when Gamora nodded she pursed her lips in thought. “No he doesn’t, but that’s deceiving. He’s stronger than he looks, much more capable than he lets on, and extremely dangerous when he needs to be. He keeps his temper in check because he knows what he’s capable of.”

Mantis seemed to turn this over in her head and Fiona recognized the younger woman’s efforts to understand the man she was growing close to. “Kraglin is a good choice,” she finally said.

With a smile Fiona glanced to Gamora who had an eyebrow raised at Peter’s sister. “Yes Mantis, he is,” Fiona assured her.


	14. Nerves

Kraglin paced the floor of the main Captain’s Quarters while he waited for Mantis to come out of her cabin. Everyone else had already left the ship for various activities except Drax. He was snoring in his cabin loud enough that Kraglin was certain whoever was in control could hear the big man. Shaking his head he looked down at himself and pulled on his right sleeve yet again.

He and Mantis were supposed to meet Yondu, Fiona, Peter, and Gamora in a little bar in the main town so he opted to wear something other than his Ravager leathers. Granted he still wore leather pants which were black, and the long-sleeved shirt he wore was also black. The shirt felt too thin, like everyone could see all of his tattoos and scars which was not what he wanted. Especially Mantis. Yondu had seen them all, so had Fiona, and to a lesser degree Peter. He just wasn’t ready for Mantis to see anything other than what was on his neck yet.

When she finally came out of her room he stopped pacing when he looked at her. She wore a black skirt that stopped several inches above her knees along with a long bell-sleeved green shirt that was slightly open at the throat and hugged her body. Kraglin closed his eyes and swallowed hard while he tried to think of something unpleasant to keep his body under control.

Mantis smiled brightly and held her arms out at her sides, “Do you like it?”

Opening his eyes he scrubbed his hand over his face, “Yes Mantis, very much.”

She studied him for a minute, “Are you alright? Your face is blue.”

He could help but chuckle slightly, “Yeah Mantis, I know.” He tugged at his sleeve again and shifted his stance while he thought about the time Peter threw up on Yondu just after they picked him up from Terra.

“Why do you keep pulling on your sleeve like that?”

Kraglin sighed, sometimes Mantis asked too many questions. She couldn’t help it, she was still trying to understand people in general, and he knew she was trying very hard to get to know him. “M’just not used ta not wearin’ my leathers…” He looked at his bare hands and wiggled his fingers at her, “…or my gloves.”

Her eyes widened. He had always worn his gloves around her, this was the first time he’d ever taken them off when he was with her. “Oooohh…Will you still hold my hand?”

“Course Mantis. Why wouldn’t I?” He put his fists on his hips and narrowed an eye while he watched her running her hands together.

“I didn’t think you wanted me to touch your skin.”

His lips spread into a thin line and he held his left hand out to her which she accepted and he pulled her with him out of the Captain’s Quarters. “Yeah, that were true. I didn’t want’cha to feel what I do. But can’t exactly have somethin’ with ya if I don’t let ya touch me.”

She was quiet while they made their way through the ship to the ramp leading to the outside. He fidgeted with his right sleeve constantly as they walked. “Kraglin?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t read emotions just by touching you. It has to be something I intend.”

“Okay.”

“But sometimes if the emotion is strong enough I can feel it anyway.”

Kraglin’s eyes flicked to her face in alarm quickly then back to scanning their surroundings as they walked through the town to the bar where they were meeting the rest of their companions.

“You are nervous.”

He stopped walking and tugged on her hand when she inadvertently kept going. She turned back to look up at him and he pulled her back into his chest and put a hand to either side of her face. Her eyes were wide as she looked at him and grasped his wrists with her hands. Taking a deep breath Kraglin bent to Mantis and placed his lips on hers in a tender slow kiss that he ended by capturing her bottom lip between his then running his tongue over it before he let it go. He touched his forehead to hers and smiled as he said against her lips, “Lovebug, ya drive me a little crazy okay?”

She was quiet for so long he was afraid kissing her might have been the wrong thing to do but when he stood up to his full height and looked down at her she was smiling with a slight rosy blush on her cheeks. “If that is what you do when I drive you crazy perhaps I should do it more often.”

One corner of his lip went up in amusement and he took her right hand in his left again and started walking to their destination again. “Maybe.”


	15. Mainframe's Other Life

It was Fiona’s turn on third watch with Mainframe who had been unusually quiet for weeks. Even Rocket, her constant companion, couldn’t seem to bring her out of whatever funk she had slipped into. Mainframe was hooked into the main control station where she sat, the lights of her eyes flashing every now and then. Fiona had long suspected something that no one had put words to and she was unsure if anyone but perhaps Rocket knew. On a whim she brought up the music library she and Peter had installed into the _Eclector’s_ memory banks and pressed the key combination to play _Hooked On A Feeling_ over the speakers in control.

Mainframe’s lights started to flash and when she spoke her tone was annoyed. “Fiona, quiet would be appreciated right now.”

Fiona moved to stand in front of Mainframe so that the robotic woman could see her. “Come on Mainframe, dance with me.” When she started dancing it was evident that either she had taught Peter to dance or the other way around but her singing was at least pleasant.

“Fiona…”

Fiona continued to sing.

“Fiona stop.”

Fiona didn’t stop singing along as she danced something that resembled a cha-cha.

“Fiona! I cannot dance any longer. This is pointless.” Mainframe’s lights flashed red and her tone was anguished.

Finally, Fiona thought, and ran her hand over the closest holopad to stop the music. When she turned back to Mainframe she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the cyborg in front of her. “What’s going on Mainframe? When you first decided to join us you were happy to be here and wanted to be around all of us. You’ve been pulling away from everyone more and more, including Rocket.”

Mainframe was silent for a long time.

“I don’t have anywhere else to be and I’m a good listener.” Fiona told her. “And I care.”

The lights over Mainframe’s face flashed a few times before dimming but not going out. “I was alive at one time.”

“I know.” It was true, Fiona had figured that out by some of the things that had been said since she met Mainframe and by the change in the cyborgs attitude.

“How could you know that?”

“We’ve spent a good amount of time together Mainframe. I’ve spent a lifetime watching humans and other beings and studying their behavior. You express yourself with more emotion than some humanoids I know.”

Mainframe sighed. “I was part of an advanced but peaceful race decimated by the Badoon. I survived, but my body couldn’t be saved. Scientists on Halfworld were able to transfer my brain to this robotic shell.” She was quiet again but Fiona didn’t take it as an invitation to interject, instead she waited. “When I was originally with Stakar’s crew it had just happened. Stakar does not know. No one does except Rocket. I had to learn to live in a new form and essentially as the last survivor of my entire race. Stakar made me a Captain and my crew was made up of artificial intelligence, what the Ravagers believed I was, so I got used to being among robots.”

“So much so that you forgot what it was like to be alive?” Fiona had relaxed her stance and rested a hand on the control station in front of Mainframe.

“Yes. Then when Yondu’s exile was lifted and the opportunity to be part of his new crew and with the Guardians of the Galaxy came about? I longed for it. I longed to be among the living again.” Mainframe sighed and her lights flashed blue this time. “But the longer I was around all of you the more painful it’s become to be a robot.”

Fiona shook her head and moved her hand to rest on what could be construed as Mainframe’s face. “You’re not a robot Mainframe. A cyborg yes, but you aren’t a robot.” She paused to think for a minute. “Have you considered a cybernetic body that’s more like your real one?”

“I have but…”

They were interrupted by alarms signaling a ship coming out of the jump point in front of them. Fiona turned toward the observation window and saw a half destroyed Kree Battleship coming into view.

“Shit!” Fiona snapped and spun back to the main control station. “Mainframe…”

“Already on it.” There were a few beeps as Mainframe entered the alarm code to signal the ship’s officers. “Red Alert, Captain and Officers to control immediately. Red Alert, Captain, and Officers to control immediately.”

Fiona sat down in one of the forward control stations that had weapons capabilities and started checking their systems. Her eyes lifted toward the Kree ship where sections seemed to be imploding in on itself and watched as a Necrocraft separated from the main ship. Their com station started beeping that the craft was hailing them.

“Bring it up on the main holoscreen Mainframe.” Fiona instructed.

A blue and purple face with black eyes filled the screen.

“Nebula?” Gamora’s voice sounded from behind them and when Fiona turned she found Gamora just coming into control with Peter, Yondu, Kraglin, and Rocket.

“Hello sister.” Nebula responded from the holoscreen.


	16. Welcome Home My Wayward Sister

Peter had been all over the ship looking for Gamora and he was starting to get worried. Nebula had returned to them, injured and in need of a new arm this time. Gamora had managed to talk Nebula into staying on the _Eclector_ for the time being but he wasn’t sure how long she’d actually stay. He knew that for Gamora’s sake it needed to be a permanent thing but Nebula was nothing if not singular of purpose in her determination to kill Thanos.

He returned to the Captain’s quarters and found Mantis and Kraglin sitting on the couch there reading a book together. Kraglin’s arm was around Mantis’ shoulders which made Peter smile. It made him happy to see his adopted brother finally find someone, even Peter’s own sister, that he felt comfortable enough with to share his life.

“Have you seen Gamora?”

Mantis looked up at Peter with a smile and pointed up the stairs. “She is in your room.”

He caught Kraglin’s narrowed eyes and pursed lips and worried that something had happened.

“Uh thanks. What are you two reading?” Peter was suddenly curious.

“It is a Terran novel Yondu found.” Mantis offered with a smile.

Kraglin turned it over in his hand. “ _Fifty Shades of Grey_.”

Peter scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d found that book by accident some years back and knew what it was about. “I…Uh, don’t really think you two should be reading that together right now.”

“Seems fine to me Peter.” Kraglin offered and studied the back of the book for a minute.

“Remember why you didn’t want Drax telling Mantis stories about him and his wife?” Peter raised an eyebrow at his brother.

Kraglin’s eyes widened in alarm and he set the book aside then looked at Mantis. “Let’s read something else Mantis.”

“Kraglin Obfonteri…”

That was Peter’s cue to resume looking for Gamora. He bounded up the stairs two at a time and made his way over to the room he shared with Gamora. When he stepped inside the room was empty and she wasn’t in the bathroom or shower either. That left one place. When he opened the door to the observation room he found her sitting on the floor. She didn’t even lift her head at the sound of the door or his footsteps and that worried him more than not being able to find her had.

“Gamora? Are you okay?” He sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. Her skin was freezing and he took his jacket off to drape it over her shoulders. That stirred her enough to look over at him.

“No, I’m not.” She whispered.

“What’s going on? Did Nebula do something?” Peter wasn’t overly concerned about Nebula’s reputation for being a sadistic murderer, that had been under Thanos’ rule when she and Gamora were at odds. Things had changed since she helped them destroy Ego.

“Not yet. It’s not what she’s done. It’s what she wants to do.” Gamora had tears in her eyes that started to fall. “I love you Peter. You know that right?”

He lifted a hand to her face and brushed her tears away. “Of course, I know that. I love you too. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“There something I know. Something I found. Nebula knows I found it and because Thanos placed memory implants in her brain that knowledge is recorded there. If he gets ahold of either of us we’re all at risk.” Gamora sighed and pressed her face into his shoulder.

He dropped a cheek on top of her head and threaded his hand through her violet hair. “Babe, we’ll figure it out together.”

“I _need_ her to stay with us. She can’t keep looking for Thanos.”

That made him pause and lift his head. “Do you know something else?”

Gamora nodded. “Fiona. She had a vision. If Thanos captures Nebula he’ll torture her and find out that I know. She doesn’t have the location of what he wants in her memory, he needs me for that.” She shook her head. “If that happens...”

He put a finger to her lips. “We’ll talk to her. Convince her to stay.”

“I tried that. She wants revenge for what he put her through. For what he did to us and all of the little girls like us.” She lifted her head and looked in his eyes and he could see just how tormented she was. “Peter, I have to keep this information from Thanos but more than anything I don’t want him hurting her anymore.”

Wrapping both arms around her he pulled her in close to him and she reached her arms around him as well. He placed a kiss gently to the top of her head when she rested it on his shoulder and squeezed her for emphasis of the words he spoke. “Babe, I promise you we’re not going to let either one happen. We’ll talk to the others and we’ll figure it out. Nebula is our family and we don’t let anyone hurt family.”

She lifted a hand and wiped at her face and they sat there in silence staring out into space. Both thinking how to prevent Nebula from being hurt and how to keep the information Gamora knew from Thanos. Gamora’s thoughts were not as positive as Peter’s and for the first time in more years than she could count she knew real fear. Fear at losing the family who had accepted her for who she was despite the past. Fear at losing the sister who had been by her side for longer than she could remember despite the animosity that was once between them. More than anything fear at losing the man holding her who had healed her heart and given her a reason to want to live life again.


	17. Revenge Don't Make Things Right

“Peter I don’t think this is a good idea.” Gamora whispered as she sat next to him on the couch in the main Captain’s Quarters.

The rest of the Guardians, Yondu, Fiona, Kraglin, and Nebula were gathered around on the couch and floor.

“Hush babe, it’s going to be fine…”

Everyone went deathly still as Gamora turned her eyes on Peter.

Yondu looked at Fiona. “Yer gonna need ta call Stakar after this.”

“Why?”

“Ta arrange Peter’s Ravager funeral.”

“Dad!”

Gamora rolled her eyes at them. “Guys, this is serious.”

“Is this about me?” Nebula huffed at them.

“Yes.”

“No.” Peter sat up and shook his head with wide eyes.

“Yes, Peter, it is, now stop it.”

“What is going on sister?”

“Nebula, I need you to stay with us.”

Nebula rolled her eyes and huffed. “Gamora I have told you. I _need_ to kill Thanos.”

Gamora shook her head and looked around the room then focused on Nebula. “No, if you leave everything will fall apart. Sister please. I don’t want to lose you again.”

“I will be fine.”

“No Nebula. Actually, you won’t.” Fiona stepped in at that point and the luphomoid’s eyes turned to the older woman. Everyone was looking at Fiona and she shifted off the couch to sit on the floor next to Nebula. “If you seek out Thanos he will capture you. He will torture you. And he will find out that Gamora knows where to find what he needs.”

“You told them?!” Nebula was shocked.

Gamora shook her head.

“No, she didn’t tell us anything. I had a vision and told her about it.” Fiona reached out and took Nebula’s real hand in hers. “If you do this you will survive. But the rest of us…” Her eyes moved over each person sitting in the room, of whom she knew only a few would survive Thanos. “…will not. Thanos capturing you will be the beginning of the end.”

Nebula’s eyes narrowed on Fiona and her jaw worked back and forth. She took her hand from Fiona’s and stood up. “I will consider staying.” She marched past everyone and out of the Captain’s Quarters.

Fiona and Gamora both stood to follow her but Yondu held up a hand and motioned them to stay where they were. “Y’all two stay there.”

He walked out of the Captain’s Quarters and headed in the direction he thought he heard Nebula walking. When he found her, she was sitting on a crate in one of the storage bays. Sitting down next to her he rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands between them.

“Why did they send you?” Nebula didn’t sound upset per se, just resigned.

“They didn’t.” He was quiet as he rubbed his thumbs over each other. “I know what it’s like to want revenge on someone what hurt ya.”

Nebula turned her head slightly to look at Yondu more closely. “The Kree?”

Yondu simply pressed his lips into his teeth and gave a tight nod. “I’s a Kree battle slave fer 20 years. My own parents sold me ta them cause they thought I’s the weakling of their offspring.” He turned to look into her black eyes and pointed at his newer implant. “My Tahlei was taken by the Kree ta control me when I’s barely eleven.”

They sat there in silence for some time before Yondu spoke again.

“I hate the Kree. Won’t think twice ‘bout killin’ one I come across. But I learned early on revenge don’t make things right. It didn’t bring my Tahlei back and it won’t undo what Thanos done to ya. At some point ya just gotta live yer life bein’ better than what the monsters tried ta make ya into.”

He heard Nebula suck in a breath and was quiet while she seemed to be working something out in her head. “I will stay and help you idiots find a way to stop Thanos together.”

“Good. It’ll be better if we don’t have ta chase ya round the galaxies ta get shit done.”

Yondu stood and started to walk back to the Captain’s Quarters when Nebula called out to him.

He turned back around to look at her.

She seemed uncomfortable with whatever it was she wanted to say. “You don’t treat me any differently than you do the rest.”

“No reason ta treat ya different. Yer family.”

Nebula stared after him for a long time while she considered his words. All of them. She hadn’t started out evil, that was never what she wanted. Her heart hurt with the years of pain she had endured. All because Thanos pitted her against the sister she actually loved.

The implants in her brain whirred to life as she came to a decision. On her own. Away from the others.

They didn’t feel she was any better or any less than Gamora. To them, she was simply family.

After Nebula returned to the Captain’s Quarters, they cleared out the cabin they had been using as storage and moved her into it.


	18. Rocket's Revelation

Rocket hopped up on the chair in front of his cobbled together work table in the cabin he shared with Groot and Mainframe. After setting the crayons Groot dropped on the floor back in front of him the little Flora Colossus smiled and laid down on top of the paper he was coloring.

“Stop throwing them on the floor will you buddy?”

“I am Groot.”

“It’s only fun for you, not me.”

“Leave him be Rocket.” Mainframes lights flashed as she spoke from her place next to where Groot was laying on the table.

The raccoon grumbled at his companion. “Yeah, well you’re not the one who has to chase down the crap he throws on the floor.”

Mainframes lights blinked out.

“Mainframe, that’s not how I meant it.” Rocket rubbed a paw over his face and rolled his eyes then jumped up on his bunk.

“I am aware.” She was silent for a moment while Rocket picked up the scanner he had been working on.

“You gonna tell me what’s on your mind?” He didn’t look at her while he turned the scanner over in his paws and opened up the back of it.

“You know I was alive once?’

Rocket lifted his head and narrowed on his companion. “Yeah.”

“Fiona knows.”

He set the scanner aside and waited.

“She suggested I transfer my brain to a cybernetic body. One like the body I had when I was alive.” Mainframes lights flashed and by the pattern he could tell she was excited by the idea.

“If that’s what you want.” He picked the scanner up and started working on it again.

“Rocket? Are you upset?”

“I am Groot.”

“I am not upset.”

“I am Groot.”

“Why are you upset?” Mainframes voice was quiet and unsure as she spoke.

Rocket considered her question for a second. He was a genetically engineered experiment, never meant to be a part of anything, have a life, or even have friends. Somehow after escaping the scientists of Halfworld and spending years running around with the original Groot as a criminal; he’d found a group of misfits that accepted what he was and treated him like family. Even if he was mostly surly about it the truth was he felt the same way about them. Then by some miracle he found another being who understood him, accepted him, and cared about him. In return he cared about her and shared more with her than he had the original Groot. They were companions and soulmates, just not in a romantic way. That wasn’t something he wanted or was capable of and he had believed that Mainframe felt the same. He wanted her to do what made her happy, he genuinely didn’t want her to be miserable just because he was afraid things would change. “You really wanna know Mainframe?”

“Of course, I do Rocket. You are, for all intents and purposes, my significant other. We don’t have to have a sexual relationship to mean that to each other.”

Well that answered that question, he thought. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Rocket…”

“Mainframe.” He watched as her lights flashed in the pattern that let him know she was upset. Swiping his paw over his eyes he grunted in frustration and jumped up on the table to sit in front of her. “I want you to be happy Mainframe. If that means a body like the one you had when you were alive I’ll help. I guess…”

Groot jumped up from where he was coloring and showed them the picture he drew. It was of the three of them. “I am Groot.”

Rocket looked at Mainframe and her lights flashed.

“Rocket, nothing is going to change between us. You will still be my significant other, and I will still be yours. I just won’t need someone else to carry me around.” Her tone was sad and he felt bad for making her feel that way.

He sighed and put a paw on top of her. “Mainframe, whatever’s gonna make you happy works for me. Okay?”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes Mainframe, I’m sure.” He meant it but couldn’t help still feeling like he was losing something.


	19. How Mantis and Nebula Became Friends

“If we go in tha’ way we got better access.” Yondu pointed to something on the holo-screen in front of him.

Kraglin leaned down to look at the area Yondu’s finger was directed toward and Peter shook his head. “Better access maybe, but there’s more security there.”

“We could jus’ bring Cricket along, have’r put tha guards ta sleep?” Yondu suggested with a shrug.

“Not sure I like that idea. She ain’t exactly a fighter.” Kraglin wasn’t sure how Mantis would handle it if a guard attacked her. “What if it don’t work on one of ‘em?”

“I will teach her to defend herself.”

The three turned at the sound of Nebula’s voice.

“Uhhhhh…” Kraglin had no idea what to say to Nebula.

“We appreciate the offer Nebula but like Kraglin said Mantis isn’t exactly a fighter.” Peter hesitated over his next words but he knew the luphamoid would appreciate honesty over him hedging to spare her feelings. “You’re probably too…intense…for her.” Peter

Nebula crossed her arms and her inky black eyes swept over the three of them. “Mantis is far more capable than you three give her credit for. You cannot continue to shelter her the way she was on Ego.”

Kraglin was quiet a minute before rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Yer right. Talk ta Mantis, if she wants ya ta teach ‘er then we ain’t gonna stop ya.”

Nebula simply nodded and left control. When Kraglin looked back at Peter and Yondu they were both staring at him open-mouthed.

“Nebula’s right. Jus’ ‘cause we think Mantis’ innocent don’t mean we can keep decidin’ what she can and can’t do. Ain’t that what Ego did?”

Peter and Yondu looked at each other.

“Yer right son.”     

After leaving the three idiots in control Nebula went to look for Mantis who she found in the main area of the Captain’s Quarters reading a book.

“Mantis, do you wish to learn to defend yourself?”

The empath looked up at Nebula with a smile on her face. “Will you teach me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I would like that.”

“Come on then, we will go to the training room.”

Mantis stood to follow Nebula out of the room. “Maybe we could be friends.”

This was a complication Nebula hadn’t considered. Even though she wasn’t about to admit it out loud she deeply desired a place where she fit in. She never had that in Thanos’ Black Order and Gamora had always been the only sibling she ever really felt a connection to.

Mantis was her polar opposite. Could they actually be friends?

“I think I would like that, Mantis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been months since I've updated this fic and this is just a short little chapter. I've struggled with the direction it's going but rest assured as I have inspiration for new chapters I will definitely write and post them.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my work kudos are appreciated. If you love it comments are wonderful. If you have constructive criticism or questions let's talk. If you leave blatantly rude or negative comments, know that no hate is allowed here and will be deleted. And if you read my work and are too shy to interact right now, know that's okay too.
> 
> Just a general A/N regarding all of my work: Please understand that I update when writing inspiration hits. I never intend on abandoning an unfinished fic, so know that if I do I'll eventually get back to it when inspiration strikes again.


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